Chapter 14 - Assassination and Genocide

4 Years Later

It was just a normal day for Hiruzen. He was sitting on his chair, smoking he pipe and reading some mission report. That was until a chunnin knocked on his door.

"Come in." Hiruzen said without even shifting his eyes from the scroll.

"Hokage-Sama, someone wants to meet you." The chunnin said.

"Who is he?" Hiruzen said.

"He called himself Gatou." The chunnin said as Hiruzen finally looked at him.

'What's a businessman doing in a ninja village? Does he need protection from someone?' Hiruzen thought. "Send him in."

The chunnin then went outside and a short man with round black glasses entered Hiruzen's office. He was carrying a briefcase with himself. "Greetings, Hokage-Sama. I am truly honoured to meet you." Gatou said as he bowed to Hiruzen.

"Welcome Gatou-san." Hiruzen said as he closed the mission report to have a good look at the man. "Have a seat." Hiruzen said.

"What is the purpose of your visit?" Hiruzen asked.

"I will pe straight forward. I want to you to assassinate a certain someone." Gatou said as the atmosphere around them suddenly went dark.

"And that certain someone is?" Hiruzen asked.

"The Daimyo of the Land of waves, along with his whole family." Gatou said.

"It was nice talking to you, you may leave now." Hiruzen said.

"Here me out. The daimyo is not an ally with your country, and he doesn't trade with you either. If you assassinate him, I will get the control of the whole country, and then I will trade with your country. Think about it, it is for the best." Gatou said.

'He isn't wrong. That country is on a status quo with us. They don't trade with us either. And it has a tactical advantage too. But-' Hiruzen was in the middle of his thought when he was cut off by Gatou.

"I will pay the cost of 2 S rank missions for just an A rank assassination mission. How do you say about it now?" Gatou said.

"Well your offer is good and all but disposing off a daimyo-" Hiruzen said but Gatou cut him off again.

"5 million Ryo, that is the cost of 5 S rank mission." Gatou said.

"You said you want his whole family dead right? But doesn't it include his children too?" Hiruzen said.

"Yeah, that is what it means to dispose off the nobility." Gatou said.

"Then I am sorry. Even if the offer is quite intriguing, we ninjas also have some ethical code." Hiruzen said.

"Think about it. You will get to trade with that land and have an ally. And on top of that, I will give you 5- no 10 million Ryo to just assassinate a family of 6. All you have to do is just overlook your morals for just once. It will benefit your village as well as your country as there are riches that are only found in the land of waves." Gatou said.

Now this was a situation of true dilemma for Hiruzen. He had to choose between all those perks of an assassination and his moral codes. Not to mention that the number of S rank mission were decreasing by day. It was only 15 years ago that Konoha got over 100 S rankers everyday and now it was barely 2-3 in a week.

And at this time, the man before him was offering him the cost of 10 S rank missions for an A rank mission at best. He just had to say yes and everything could go in Konoha's favour. And about killing children, Naruto became a ninja when he was just 7. And ninjas were considered adults right? But he was conditioned from the very beginning to be like that. And we are talking about innocent children who had no business in the Ninja world.

These were the thoughts that were going thoughts that were going through Hiruzen's mind. He was unable to come to a conclusion. Konoha had killed children before but it was Danzo who did that. He was not like Danzo. But if he accepted Gatou's request, he would be able to trade with the Land of Waves and not the mention the 10 million he will get as a bonus. After struggling between the two choices, he finally choosed the former option.

"Let me get this straight, if I assassinate the Daimyo of land of Waves, you will pay 10 million Ryo as well as start trade with our country." Hiruzen asked.

"Yeah. That is correct." Gatou said. 'Except that I will charge you thrice the amount of the actual cost for the trade.'

"Alright. You will get the news by tomorrow." Hiruzen said.

"There is one more thing. I want them actually dead and my name shouldn't be involved in any of this." Gatou said.

"Noted." Hiruzen said as Gatou put the briefcase on the desk.

"Here is your money." Gatou said.

"Submit it to the mission office. It is village's money, not mine." Hiruzen said with an cold expression that quickly showed Gatou his place.

xXx

After his power display at the Chunnin Exams, Naruto's path became clear as can be. Naruto had made his name into the ninja world. All the lords, ninjas of different villages and the four other Kage had now learnt his name. 3 Years after his promotion to Chunnin, Naruto was finally promoted to Jonin at the age of 11. And as soon as that happened, he was transferred to the ANBU Black Ops.

The structure of the ANBU was different from normal ranks. It was divided into 4 different squads, and each squad was under a squad leader. The four squads were the Assassination Squad led by Itachi Uchiha, Defence Squad led by Tenzo, Domestic squad led by Tokuma Hyuga and Threat Suppression Squad led by Shisui Uchiha, with each squad having 40 members. The four Squad Leader directly worked under the ANBU Commander and the Hokage, with Kakashi Hatake as the current commander.

When Naruto joined the ANBU, he worked in the Defence Squad for a year before being transferred to the Assassination Squad, though it was Naruto himself who asked Hiruzen to transfer him.

"You want what?" Naruto asked as along with Itachi, Yugao ad Koumi were standing before Hiruzen.

"I want you to slay the family of the Daimyo of the Land of Waves." Hiruzen said.

"Yeah, that includes his parents who are older than you and his children who are younger than me." Naruto said in a worried tone.

"I know but you have killed children before, haven't you?" Hiruzen asked.

"Excuse me!?" Naruto said with his eyebrows shrinked.

"I mean in the chunnin exams. You did kill your enemies who were kids too." Hiruzen said.

"Yeah, I did. But they were the one who attacked me first. And they were neither defenceless nor innocent by any means." Naruto said.

"You will get 1 million Ryo for this mission." Hiruzen said.

"You think money is the matter? I have more than enough that my next 3 generation don't even have to worry about it." Naruto said as he shunshined away.

"I will get him." Itachi said as he shunshined after him.

With Naruto

Naruto had shunshined to his home, followed by Itachi. Both of them were sitting on the roof of the building, gazing at the Hokage faces. "I won't do that." Naruto said.

"I know how you feel but this is the reality of ANBU." Itachi said as he continued after a pause. "Actually, this would have been the ROOT's job, but Hokage-Sama had decided to take this kind of missions himself, due to certain events."

"Even so, killing helpless people is a whole other story." Naruto said.

"If you won't accept the mission then someone else will. And Hokage-Sama might send some masochists to that mission as well." Itachi said.

"But-" Naruto tried to protest but soon he realised that the mission was already accepted. But it was only a question of who would do the task, him or someone else.

"Other's might enjoy killing them, while taking their time." Itachi said.

"This was not what I had became a ninja for. I knew that I had to kill people, but weren't they supposed to be evils, or enemies, or even those who would attack me first. I had no idea that I would have to slay helpless people who would even fight back. And kids? Never. Ever." Naruto completed his monologue.

"That is the bitter reality of our job. We are knives for sale. Pay the right price and we will kill anyone without any question." Itachi said pausing for a moment. "In order for our village to prosper, we have to destroy someone else's land."

Next Night

"He went inside." Koumi said. As being a S-Rank mission, Itachi had picked the members of this team on the basis of their ability. The team was composed of Itachi himself as leader; Naruto Uzumaki, the second in command; Yugao Uzuki and Koumi Hyuga. Koumi was a 16 year old member of the main branch of the Hyuuga Clan. She was specialised in tracking and reconnaissance.

It was night time when this assassination team was observing their target. The daimyo's family had his wife, his both parents, and his two sons of age 7 and 9. Currently they were eating dinner, while Itachi and co. were waiting for them to finish.

"Okay, we will make our move when they go to sleep." Itachi said who was wearing a Weasel mask.

"Let's discuss the roles in the meantime." Naruto said who was wearing a fox mask under the Kitsune code name.

"Okay. Boar [Koumi] will look out for the guards. Cat [Yugao] will take care of Daimyo's parents. I will deal with the Daimyo and his wife. Kitsune [Naruto] will take care of the children. Now, if any of you will like to change their targets?" Itachi asked, especially from Naruto.

"Wait." Naruto said as everyone looked at him. "We just have to kill them, right?"

"Yeah, that is correct." Yugao said.

"They there is no need for us to get in there ourselves." Naruto said as he unsealed a bow from his hand along with six arrows, each coated in poison.

"Tell me the directions." Naruto said to Koumi.

"Don't tell me you can shoot down people from a mile away with just arrows," Itachi said.

"I can. I can even shoot down targets farther than my eyes could see." Naruto said.

"Well, they are in the third room from the right with the white door." Koumi said with her byakugan active. "There are 3 more people in the room, serving the food."

"Just the target, no one else." Naruto said.

"Alright. Shoot two arrows at the upper and lower edge of the third left square on the door. Two on the centre, adjacent to the first and fourth square centre… and two on the upper edges of the second and third right square." Koumi said as purple lightning cranked around the arrows as Naruto stretched the string all the way to his ear. After adjusting the aim for a second, Naruto released the arrows.

*twang*

The instant Naruto released the arrows, blood got splashed on the door of the room. And then came the sound of screams and cries of the women who were serving food to the Daimyo.

"There, our job is done." Naruto said as he sealed his bow back in his hand. Koumi also confirmed their deaths with her byakugan.

"You have really good aim, Naruto-kun." Koumi said.

xXx

All four of them were standing before Hiruzen in the hokage office as he was reading the Mission Report. It was the time of morning and Konoha was starting to wake up.

"Very well done." Hiruzen said as he rolled back the scroll and put it aside. It was when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." Hiruzen said as a chunnin entered the office holding a scroll with the Fire Daimyo's seal on it. He immediately gave the scroll to Hiruzen before asking for leave.

Hiruzen opened the scroll and started reading it. As he was reading the scroll, a worried expression masked his face. A direct message from the daimyo was a serious matter, but to make the Hokage look concerned, it had to be something really problematic.

"Kitsune, go fetch Kakashi." Hiruzen said as Naruto shunshined away. And at the moment's notice, Kakashi was standing there while Hiruzen had asked Itachi and co. to wait outside.

"A problem has arised in the North East part of the fire country. The Chimamire group is spotted there and is 'rumoured' to attack the Daimyo's town and the Fire Temple. Also, they are to attack the central prison as well and recruit all the prisoners in their group. Hence, the Daimyo has asked us to dispose of them." Hiruzen said.

The Chimamire Group is a humongous band of criminals, thugs, bandits and rebels, controlled by the Ketsueki Clan. The group was like a moving village with the population of around 30k members which included kids and children too. The group was known for massacring small villages and towns, robbing them of all their items, and then burning them down to ashes. OF the total population, 20k knew how to use chakra and half of them could use Elemental Ninjutsu.

This massive band of criminals was ruled by the Ketsueki Clan of around 1500 members, who had the Blood manipulation Kekkei Genkai. It was one of the top five most dangerous Kekkei Genkai, and what made it so dangerous was its versatility. Those with full control could heal people from their blood, create explosions from the blood, and use the blood the shoot high speed blood arrows. The full capabilities of the Blood Manipulation were still unknown.

"So they have finally made the move. What are your orders, Hokage-Sama?" Kakashi asked.

"Dispose of them, they couldn't be allowed to exist any longer. They are too problematic to be ignored." Hiruzen said. "You can form a team of how many members you see fit, but the job should be done smoothly, and without any hastle. And you will have to leave tomorrow morning."

"As you command." Kakashi said before leaving.

Outside the Hokage Office

"Alright, Itachi, go fetch Shisui; and Naruto, you go and fetch Tenzo; Koumi, you go and fetch Kohan Yamanaka. Meet me at 'that' place." Kakashi said as the three quickly shunshined away. "Yugao, you can go and report back to the ANBU Headquarters."

xXx

All the people that Kakashi had summoned were standing in a dark room with a candle at each corner. After the last member of the group entered the room, Kakashi made a certain hand seal as the four candles flickered at once. He then looked at Koumi, as she quickly activated her byakugan before nodding.

"Alright, as you would have guessed by now, this is one of the biggest missions, the ANBU has ever taken." Kakashi said. "If you are not ready to commit a genocide then you are free to go."

Shisui was slightly taken a back before regaining his composure. None of the members showed any signs of hesitation. This was to be expected a from the members of ANBU. All of them had grown cold overtime. Even Naruto had over a thousand kills on his hands. Talking about Naruto, his empathy had died with the Daimyo's children. Now he just knew that he had to follow the orders.

"Very well then. Here are all the details you will need for this mission." Kakashi said before distributing a scroll to everyone. All of them quickly opened the opened the scroll and started reading. The scroll had all the information about the Chimamire Group and Ketsueki Clan, their population, history, all recorded events of their attacks, last three year attacking patterns, and their current location.

"When do we have to leave?" Naruto asked in monotone.

"Tomorrow early morning." Kakashi said.

The group of trained assassins left Konoha before the sunrise. All of them had prepared themselves for what was to come. Their eyes were as cold as can be and they carried a disturbing amount of bloodlust.

"Will it be indiscriminate or we will be sparing lives?" Shisui asked.

"It will be indiscriminate. No lives will be spared, not even the helpless." Kakashi said but refrained from using the word 'children'. He didn't want his team to lose heart, even though it was the bitter truth. And as a matter of fact, Naruto was the only one in the team who had ever killed a helpless before.

Their destination was the Fire Country Daimyo's residence, which was 8 hours away from Konoha, but at their speed, they will reach there in just 6 hours. Kakashi didn't wanted his team to be exhausted at the real job. If they weren't in perfect shape, it would only harm them. Kakashi was carrying with him the top shinobi in Konoha right now, and he couldn't afford to lose even one of them. Everyone in the team was a significant pillar of Konoha.

"What about the slaves and prisoners they would have? Will we be killing them too?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. With the exception of our team, not a single soul leaves that place alive. I repeat, there are no exceptions." Kakashi said.


Author's Note

After some advice, I finally rewrote this chapter. This and the next chapter will be one of the most violent chapters in this story, as there are going to be genocide and assassinations with no exceptions. And here we have ANBU Black Ops Naruto, he is more cold and apathetic than before, but he hasn't lost his touch. And his is currently 12 year old and stands about 5 feet 4 inches [162 cm] and since he got some height, he used the full size Katana instead of Ninjato. I finally connected the devastation of Land of Waves with Konoha. Here is an attempt to write a morally gray Naruto, I don't know how will it go but we will see about that later. Well, that's about it. See ya in the next chapter, drop a review for the time being.